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Sony begins restoring PlayStation Network - Update 2

Sony has announced (UK) that it has now begun to restore the PlayStation Network (PSN) and Qriocity services bringing regions online in a phased in manner. The restoration had been delayed last weekend after the discovery of an additional data breach in Sony Online Entertainment servers.

According to Sony, PlayStation 3 users in the US, UK and Europe are being prompted to download new firmware and reset their password for the service. Only sign-in, online multiplayer gaming, friends list, trophies and chat for PS3 users and subscription music and rental video for Qriocity users will initially be available, with other services to follow. Sony did not give any more details about the original breach and would only say that the server systems now had additional firewalls, additional monitoring, improved encryption and an early warning system incorporated.

It appears that Sony have been working with Symantec to assist with securing the network. Senior vice president of Symantec's Enterprise Security Group was quoted by Sony as saying "In working with Sony on the move of their data centre, it's clear they're implementing measures to reduce security risks moving forward". Sony also announced the president of Sony Global Solutions, Fumiaki Sakai, had been appointed acting Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and would be assisting in the recuitment of a permanent CISO.

Testing the return of the Sony services, The H found that, as of 10:20AM in the UK, the systems were offering the updated firmware for PS3s but were still reporting PSN was down for maintenance when signing in. Web addresses given for resetting passwords were also responding with a "down for maintenance" message.

Update - As of 3:40PM in the UK, PSN in Europe has still not been restored and a message from the official @PlaystationEU Twitter account at midday, says it will tweet as each European territory comes online. So far, it has not announced any territory being brought online.

Update 2 - At 6:30PM in the UK, PSN for the UK came online. The H has tested and successfully logged in to the service. As expected, the system forced a change of password.